Conference 2025

Whose Work Is It Anyway?

A book is the product of multiple actors (author, agent, printer, editor, publisher), and once a book exists, its life beyond the printer depends on a whole series of additional actors (distributors, booksellers, purchasers, reviewers, prize committees, second-hand sellers, collectors, libraries).  This conference focuses on all of these processes, at different times and in different places.  Whether we regard these agents as part of a full circuit of connections or fortuitous players that may interact haphazardly, we should not conceive of the book as simply a unified container of ideas, though books often strive to give that appearance.  Papers that examine how any of these interactions impact on or account for the power of the book are welcome.  We especially welcome studies that examine points at which Darnton’s circuit is disrupted or rerouted in unexpected directions.  And ‘book’ encompasses all written communication: in manuscript, periodical or monograph form, physical or virtual.

Possible topics may include but are not limited to:

• Relations of authors with ghostwriters, translators, designers, editors, agents
• Intermediations beyond print or from other media into print
• Typography and its cultural impact: evolution of sorts, limitations in particular locations or periods, creation for a particular title, re-use/re-design in new contexts
• The role of AI in any aspect of the life cycle of a book
• Modes of book acquisition: historical, contemporary or future
• Interpretation and value of marginalia
• Social reading across all periods: aloud, in groups, informal or performed
• Role of reviews and prizes in the life cycle of a book
• Collectors and dealers, particularly in relation to the cultural status of titles
• Role of books in enabling or repressing diverse voices
• Libraries as repositories, suppressors, promoters, or defenders of books
• Books that fail to achieve their intended impact and books with unintended consequences
• Censored books and the effects of censorship, intentional or unintentional
• Ownership and rights of transfer: copyright, digital rights, moral rights, creative commons and open access
• Books and their environmental impacts

The 2025 Conference will be an in-person conference, with presentations recorded and made available later (for a modest fee) to those unable to join us.  We anticipate a public opening keynote on the evening of Tuesday, 18 November, followed by two days of panels on Wednesday and Thursday and a gathering of Rare Book librarians and curators on Friday, 21 November.  Those interested in the Friday event should contact the Centre for the Book (books@otago.ac.nz), which will be coordinating the gathering.

As details become available, more information will be added to the Conference website at https://bsanz2025.wordpress.com/, or from a link on the BSANZ homepage (BSANZ.org).  Feel free to contact one of the conference organisers with any questions:

Donald Kerr (donald.kerr@otago.ac.nz)

Shef Rogers (shef.rogers@otago.ac.nz

Paul Tankard (paul.tankard@otago.ac.nz)